1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an associated device for feeding and operating a facility, such as a hammer-based crusher, for comminuting recyclable scrap material containing metals, e.g. discarded automobiles and/or baled scrap metal, with a feeding device for a continuous feeding operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known hammer-based crusher facilities encounter difficulties in maintaining a reliable operation for feeding the scrap material to be comminuted, comminuting the scrap material and finally discharging the comminuted scrap material for further processing. Such difficulties are typically due to problems associated with defining certain values, such as the quantity and dimensions of the scrap material to be fed.
EP 0203026 A2 describes a process flow for a stone crusher, in which data for the crusher are measured and processed between the feeding operation and the comminution process. This process can be employed in this specific situation because the rocks to be comminuted have a relatively homogeneous mineral structure, so that the rock crusher is easier to control. Data in such stone crushers are simply transmitted from a level sensor and a sensor sensing the crusher efficiency, respectively, via respective peripheral interface device (PID) controllers to form control signals for changing the velocity of the drive of the feeding device.